Long ago the "Alpine Tunnel" built for a narrow gauge railroad, near Pitkin Colorado, was the highest tunnel at 11,523 and was the first tunnel to cross the continental divide. Brutal winter weather ravaged the area, making it impossible to maintain operations year round. It opened in 1882 but closed forever in 1910.
Did they seal the entrances or fill it in at all? That would be neat to be the first one to go in and explore it since 1910 if it hasn't caved in or anything..Maybe some old miners hats, turn of the century newspapers, or kerosene lanterns. ⛏️⛰️
@@snapdragon6601 A good portion of the tunnel has collapsed on its own. It was always collapsing, even when in use, as the rock is badly fractured. The portals still exist, and one is a summertime offroad travel destination.
I have stepped foot on the Alpine Tunnel twice. Sadly about 4 years ago the Pallasades- a 100 foot sheer rock masonry was washed out. Many people worked every summer to attempt to restore the buildings up there. It was unbelievable. Never to be worked on again. You can still walk the trail from Hancock but there is nothing on that side. It was my absolute favorite place to visit.
In France we have the tunnel through the Mont-Blanc between France and Italy. We also have the Eurotunnel under the English Channel to connect the continent to the UK. But you guys in the US have put these constructions to another level. I've seen all your vids (remarkable) and everything you built is just insane. Bravo for all this and bravo for your YT channel. Love it.
You should consider doing a feature on the Big Walker Mountain and East River Mountain tunnels in Virginia and West Virginia. They were both built around the same time as the Eisenhower and Johnson tunnels, and though are not as large, met their own challenges during construction that might make for an interesting video. Not to mention their significance to the surrounding communities by drastically cutting drive times. Especially the East River Mountain Tunnel that connects the two states.
Been through it a few times on the way out West. It's very impressive. And it's not the only tunnel on I-70. It would be interesting if he covered the construction of I-70 through the San Rafael Swell in Utah. The part after the sign that says "No services next 107 miles"...
The 6000-foot change in elevation between the tunnel and Denver is more impressive. Several years ago, I drove the downhill route at night in a snowstorm. You had better know that an automatic transmission car can be downshifted, which most people not from the mountains do not.
@@michaelwallbrown3726 I did say "most people" did not know it. I've seen many articles over the years in newspapers or online that offer tips for driving in the snow, and they never mention downshifting.
I grew up in Colorado years ago, and my family always used to drive through this tunnel several times a year. Always loved staring out the window and wondering what it’s like inside the portal buildings
I just pulled my 43 ft 5th wheel trailer on I-70 west through Colorado about a month ago. That climb pushed my truck to its limit and that descent beginning right after the Eisenhower tunnel was stressful! I’m definitely taking the “easier” Route 50 whenever I head back home to Texas. But that scenery tho!!!! 🏔🏔
wow, I'm honestly really impressed. Please do take the safer route for your own safety! Last time I was out of the tunnel and approached Gorgetown, I watched a Semi fly by with his brakes on fire. thank god we we're approaching a flat section of road so he didn't have to use the runaway ramp.
My Grandfather was on the build crew as a heavy equipment operator for both the tunnel and most of I-70. When he was hired he bought a new truck and installed a slide in camper and lived onsite for many months from April till late October only coming home a couple times a month. On his off time to relax, He would hike into the mountains with his panning equipment and pan the local rivers & streams for gold. Some weeks he'd made more money panning for gold then he did working.
My sister lived in Georgetown Colorado which was near one of the entrances to the tunnel. Every once in a while when we would set on her front porch we could hear the panic air horn of a semi truck that lost their brakes coming out of the tunnel and the next morning we could drive east on I-70 to find another semi truck in the emergency truck lane buried up to their axles where it finally got stopped.
Good old America, has plans to do urgent repairs on a tunnel, sometime in the future. Hope a car or two is not crushed by a side panel falling, before they bother doing the repairs.
Also hidden in the tunnel is a small fire and rescue station and extended use sleeping shelters for employees who might have to spend a few days inside if a blizzard forces the closure of the highway.
The tunnel was the beginning of the mass amounts of people moving here to Colorado. If you are going to move here we have a way of doing things so dont try and change it. Also if you move here buy a old house, it's sad seeing the beautiful landscape destroyed by housing. It brakes my hart every time I go into town.
Been through the tunnels many many times. Nothing like that pucker moment right as you exit the tunnels into inclement weather, slick road surface and steep grade....
I've been though them twice, the second time heading east, and there was a red light at the entrance to the tunnel. Only the second time I've had to stop for a traffic light on an Interstate. (The other was in Breezewood, PA).The light was red because there had been an accident on the other end of the tunnel, and it was easy to see why. When I got over there it was very icy. I was in the right lane taking it easy... it was a LONG way from home and I'm not stupid, but people were flying past in the left lane
Will you please do a video on the castlewood canyon dam in Douglas county CO. It's a fascinating story. I ask for this alot and I know there are several people that would like to see it
A bike path - through the tunnels - at 11,000'+ ... that is the dumbest idea...ever. If the lack of oxygen doesn't create an issue, the carbon monoxide intake during aerobic effort (cycling) sure will. Why does everything need a bike path?
Feet are the best unit because there are 12 in he's to the foot and three barleycorns to the inch. So simply carry a barley corn and you can measure anything.
Maine to California left trailer then brought million dollar ice machine through that back to Maine for broccoli season. Been across few times most time use 40 or 80
Unfortunately I think the female stigma still exists in engineering to a lot of the old-timers. I'm also a highway engineering technician and even to this day, women in this role are exceptionally rare. I have no idea why, there's no reason they couldn't excel. I hope that changes someday. We need all the help we can get right now. I'm also not sure how she was able to do her job given one of the main duties is to inspect the work for conformance to plan. They typically have many engineers on a project like that though so perhaps they just had her sitting in the trailer filing IDRs with other people giving her the info.
Women sometimes make different career choices than men, which is their right. Why blame stigma as a first causal reason when it’s possible stigma could be a result of having so few good examples in the industry in their time which is due, in part, to these differences in aptitudes, interests, and choices. Mad Men is just a TV show.
I did drove past this tunnel when I skied the 6 to 7 resorts from Lveland, Arapahoe and Keystone just behind the tunnel all the way to Beaver Creek. At 11,158 ft above sea level the tunnel wasn't that high from my memory. For example the highest point reached by chairlift in Loveland is 12,700 ft. In Europe the highest point by chiarlift or cable car is Matterhorn glacier paradise at 3,883m or 12,739 ft.
There is a traffic light before the tunnel entrance to control the flow and amount of traffic in the tunnel. If you have to stop, you will be stopped at an uphill slope. If the weather is wintery and the road is slippery, be in the right lane because a lot of semis will lose traction and spin their wheels, even move backwards at times. When you are in the right lane, you can move on to the shoulder which is wide enough to go around the stuck semis.
I worked on the eastern bore on the western side. They worked both sides. I was there the summer 76! There were 2 deaths of workers squished by trucks double the width and height. Imagine 28’ tires running over 6’ man! SQUISH
I had to go AROUND the Ike some years ago in a Semi since at the time Haz-Mat Loads couldn't go through. I had to take a 75' Semi over the old U.S. 6 across Loveland Summit. There's a rest area at the top at 11, 990 feet...
In the mid 80s when i was a teenager we were moving to California when our large Uhaul truck broke down just outside the Eisenhower tunnel, from vapor lock. I offered to ride my bike back down the interstate on the shoulder to get help in Georgetown, about 35 miles. To this day I can't believe my Dad let me do that. Gravity carried me so fast coasting was the only option. An experience ill never forget.
I'm considering moving to Colorado. I'd like to live somewhere where it doesn't cost an absolute fortune. Is there anywhere in the State thats semi affordable?
I had a choice between driving I-70 through the tunnel, or US 40 over the Berthoud Pass and chose US 40 driving up the mountain with several switchbacks,when on top you can look east or west, however air is thin at 11,307 feet above sea level, it is more entertaining and educational to drive over than through, that's my opinion for what its worth.
If I get a chance to get out that way again I want to do that. I love the old roads, which is how I wound up going through this tunnel the last time, I was on my way back to North Carolina after driving Route 66.
He got away with drunk driving a pulling a stunt like that because the signs weren't posted correctly? That's crazy! I guess they weren't always so strict about DUI laws in Colorado or in most of the US at that time.
Wouldn't you know it , Coors beer would have there Anti - Union fingers in it!! Im from Denver and moved to Glenwood Springs on the West slope the year before it was done, big inprovement!! Glenwood canyon, also a big deal!!
The highest road tunnels in the world, according to Google: Mi La Mountain Tunnel, 4,752m (15,590ft), China Tunel Punta Olimpica, 4,732m (15,525ft), Peru Tunel de Kahuish, 4,516m (14,816ft), Peru Cho La Mountain Tunnel, 4,378m (14,363ft), China
@@Chuzini I'm so sorry. (By which I mean "you're welcome".) I ordinarily will not string puns, preferring to leave them for someone else to put in play. But, here it is -- a triple groaner from the pike position. Yes. That would be the _turn_ pike (well... highway anyway).
I've been through this tunnel many times. I'll be going through it twice in July (On my way into Utah then south into Arizona and back to Denver.) It's an absolutely grand tunnel and I hope they can continue to use it for many decades to come.
Worth noting is the Loveland Ski area that extends above the tunnel. There is a ski tunnel that goes under I70, for skiers descending on the north side of the resort.
I'm surprised that there's never been an accident in there. I grew up and lived most of my life in Colorado and people drive like idiots through that tunnel, not to mention ski season traffic. Honestly though, all of I-70 is an engineering marvel through the Rockies and Utah, if not a major environmental blight. Awfully convenient though!
There has been plenty of accidents in the tunnel, just no fatalities. I’ve had to come to an abrupt stop heading eastbound as there was a large pileup in the entrance. They have these huge train horns that are incredible loud to warn you to stop in an emergency.
Long ago the "Alpine Tunnel" built for a narrow gauge railroad, near Pitkin Colorado, was the highest tunnel at 11,523 and was the first tunnel to cross the continental divide. Brutal winter weather ravaged the area, making it impossible to maintain operations year round. It opened in 1882 but closed forever in 1910.
Did they seal the entrances or fill it in at all? That would be neat to be the first one to go in and explore it since 1910 if it hasn't caved in or anything..Maybe some old miners hats, turn of the century newspapers, or kerosene lanterns. ⛏️⛰️
@@snapdragon6601 A good portion of the tunnel
has collapsed on its own. It was always collapsing, even when in use, as the rock is badly fractured. The portals still exist, and one is a summertime offroad travel destination.
I have stepped foot on the Alpine Tunnel twice. Sadly about 4 years ago the Pallasades- a 100 foot sheer rock masonry was washed out. Many people worked every summer to attempt to restore the buildings up there. It was unbelievable. Never to be worked on again. You can still walk the trail from Hancock but there is nothing on that side. It was my absolute favorite place to visit.
Great information 👊🏻
In France we have the tunnel through the Mont-Blanc between France and Italy. We also have the Eurotunnel under the English Channel to connect the continent to the UK. But you guys in the US have put these constructions to another level. I've seen all your vids (remarkable) and everything you built is just insane. Bravo for all this and bravo for your YT channel. Love it.
Speaking of the eurotunnel, I always wondered if/where the lanes switch sides
My home region. Been through it thousands of times!!
I love the tunnel haha
You should consider doing a feature on the Big Walker Mountain and East River Mountain tunnels in Virginia and West Virginia. They were both built around the same time as the Eisenhower and Johnson tunnels, and though are not as large, met their own challenges during construction that might make for an interesting video. Not to mention their significance to the surrounding communities by drastically cutting drive times. Especially the East River Mountain Tunnel that connects the two states.
Good ole I-77 been through there many times.
I think you mean “fire suppression system”, not “fire suspension system”
I drove through this yesterday, and I'll be driving back through it tomorrow.
73.5% of the length needed rock support. This is very important to know. I am glad you included it.
Been through it a few times on the way out West. It's very impressive. And it's not the only tunnel on I-70.
It would be interesting if he covered the construction of I-70 through the San Rafael Swell in Utah. The part after the sign that says "No services next 107 miles"...
Quite a few between grand junction and Eisenhower Tunnel
From my experience exiting the tunnels and going down hill is nerve wracking in any weather.
The 6000-foot change in elevation between the tunnel and Denver is more impressive. Several years ago, I drove the downhill route at night in a snowstorm. You had better know that an automatic transmission car can be downshifted, which most people not from the mountains do not.
The beauty of having a stick
not to be a smart ass but i figured out you could downshift an automatic when i was 16 years old in 1976
@@michaelwallbrown3726 I did say "most people" did not know it. I've seen many articles over the years in newspapers or online that offer tips for driving in the snow, and they never mention downshifting.
seriously! I only don't enjoy the drive because of the traffic sometimes, at least you have a gorgeous view the whole time though
I grew up in Colorado years ago, and my family always used to drive through this tunnel several times a year. Always loved staring out the window and wondering what it’s like inside the portal buildings
same!! I've always wondered! I love the tunnel
I just pulled my 43 ft 5th wheel trailer on I-70 west through Colorado about a month ago. That climb pushed my truck to its limit and that descent beginning right after the Eisenhower tunnel was stressful! I’m definitely taking the “easier” Route 50 whenever I head back home to Texas. But that scenery tho!!!! 🏔🏔
wow, I'm honestly really impressed. Please do take the safer route for your own safety! Last time I was out of the tunnel and approached Gorgetown, I watched a Semi fly by with his brakes on fire. thank god we we're approaching a flat section of road so he didn't have to use the runaway ramp.
My Grandfather was on the build crew as a heavy equipment operator for both the tunnel and most of I-70. When he was hired he bought a new truck and installed a slide in camper and lived onsite for many months from April till late October only coming home a couple times a month. On his off time to relax, He would hike into the mountains with his panning equipment and pan the local rivers & streams for gold. Some weeks he'd made more money panning for gold then he did working.
As a truck driver I go through this tunnel way too often
Has it lost its charm?
@@ITSHISTORY
Yes it honestly looks like it's going to collapse every time I go through it
I grew up in Colorado. Drove through this tunnel several times. Truly an amazing feat of engineering!
My sister lived in Georgetown Colorado which was near one of the entrances to the tunnel. Every once in a while when we would set on her front porch we could hear the panic air horn of a semi truck that lost their brakes coming out of the tunnel and the next morning we could drive east on I-70 to find another semi truck in the emergency truck lane buried up to their axles where it finally got stopped.
I love Georgetown!!! You should check out their railroad voyage if you haven't already!
and the Argo Mine in Idaho Springs tbh
Good old America, has plans to do urgent repairs on a tunnel, sometime in the future. Hope a car or two is not crushed by a side panel falling, before they bother doing the repairs.
Also hidden in the tunnel is a small fire and rescue station and extended use sleeping shelters for employees who might have to spend a few days inside if a blizzard forces the closure of the highway.
The tunnel was the beginning of the mass amounts of people moving here to Colorado. If you are going to move here we have a way of doing things so dont try and change it. Also if you move here buy a old house, it's sad seeing the beautiful landscape destroyed by housing. It brakes my hart every time I go into town.
IT'S HISTORY & Ryan Socash get another well earned Thumbs up! 🙂
Been through the tunnels many many times. Nothing like that pucker moment right as you exit the tunnels into inclement weather, slick road surface and steep grade....
try it in a semi truck!
I've been though them twice, the second time heading east, and there was a red light at the entrance to the tunnel. Only the second time I've had to stop for a traffic light on an Interstate. (The other was in Breezewood, PA).The light was red because there had been an accident on the other end of the tunnel, and it was easy to see why. When I got over there it was very icy. I was in the right lane taking it easy... it was a LONG way from home and I'm not stupid, but people were flying past in the left lane
Will you please do a video on the castlewood canyon dam in Douglas county CO. It's a fascinating story. I ask for this alot and I know there are several people that would like to see it
Local brewing company………it’s COORS
Ha, the Governor's name was Big Johnson.
The next Governor was Dick Morningwood.
A bike path - through the tunnels - at 11,000'+ ... that is the dumbest idea...ever. If the lack of oxygen doesn't create an issue, the carbon monoxide intake during aerobic effort (cycling) sure will.
Why does everything need a bike path?
Amen brother ( or sister, or whatever you are)
Feet are the best unit because there are 12 in he's to the foot and three barleycorns to the inch.
So simply carry a barley corn and you can measure anything.
Request can you please do the Lost lines of the New York City subway
"local brewing company" aka Coors. They draw water from Clear Creek.
I'd never heard of this tunnel, many thanks again Sir 🇬🇧☀️👍
Maine to California left trailer then brought million dollar ice machine through that back to Maine for broccoli season. Been across few times most time use 40 or 80
Unfortunately I think the female stigma still exists in engineering to a lot of the old-timers. I'm also a highway engineering technician and even to this day, women in this role are exceptionally rare. I have no idea why, there's no reason they couldn't excel. I hope that changes someday. We need all the help we can get right now.
I'm also not sure how she was able to do her job given one of the main duties is to inspect the work for conformance to plan. They typically have many engineers on a project like that though so perhaps they just had her sitting in the trailer filing IDRs with other people giving her the info.
Women sometimes make different career choices than men, which is their right. Why blame stigma as a first causal reason when it’s possible stigma could be a result of having so few good examples in the industry in their time which is due, in part, to these differences in aptitudes, interests, and choices. Mad Men is just a TV show.
I did drove past this tunnel when I skied the 6 to 7 resorts from Lveland, Arapahoe and Keystone just behind the tunnel all the way to Beaver Creek. At 11,158 ft above sea level the tunnel wasn't that high from my memory. For example the highest point reached by chairlift in Loveland is 12,700 ft. In Europe the highest point by chiarlift or cable car is Matterhorn glacier paradise at 3,883m or 12,739 ft.
I hope this video mentions that time it was buried by an avalanche. That snow storm was fucking awesome, school was cancelled for weeks.
What year was that?
There is a traffic light before the tunnel entrance to control the flow and amount of traffic in the tunnel. If you have to stop, you will be stopped at an uphill slope. If the weather is wintery and the road is slippery, be in the right lane because a lot of semis will lose traction and spin their wheels, even move backwards at times. When you are in the right lane, you can move on to the shoulder which is wide enough to go around the stuck semis.
Nice to see an episode devoted to something in my beloved home state. The Ike has never failed to impress me, even as a child
I worked on the eastern bore on the western side. They worked both sides. I was there the summer 76! There were 2 deaths of workers squished by trucks double the width and height. Imagine 28’ tires running over 6’ man! SQUISH
I had to go AROUND the Ike some years ago in a Semi since at the time Haz-Mat Loads couldn't go through. I had to take a 75' Semi over the old U.S. 6 across Loveland Summit. There's a rest area at the top at 11, 990 feet...
Drove through the tunnel on my way to a wedding earlier this summer. I was amazed. Awesome to see this video.
I remember going through this all the time when we'd go visit my aunt and uncle.
I am like number 699
I’ve driven through there in a big rig! Avoided it during the winter months, though.
I've been through that tunnel many times. It's amazing
At the beginning of the video, you have east and west confused.
FYI.
I drove that in American Truck Simulator and got an achievement refering to it being on hight. Here, because I wanted to know more about it
In the mid 80s when i was a teenager we were moving to California when our large Uhaul truck broke down just outside the Eisenhower tunnel, from vapor lock.
I offered to ride my bike back down the interstate on the shoulder to get help in Georgetown, about 35 miles. To this day I can't believe my Dad let me do that. Gravity carried me so fast coasting was the only option. An experience ill never forget.
oh wow, I can only imagine.... the amount of times I've driven down and that's intense enough. I can't imagine biking.
I love going through Eisenhower, I live in Steamboat Springs... it's about three hours from Denver. It's such a beautiful drive.
I'm considering moving to Colorado. I'd like to live somewhere where it doesn't cost an absolute fortune. Is there anywhere in the State thats semi affordable?
Drove through this tunnel with a Tractor Trailer, it was great
I had a choice between driving I-70 through the tunnel, or US 40 over the Berthoud Pass and chose US 40 driving up the mountain with several switchbacks,when on top you can look east or west, however air is thin at 11,307 feet above sea level, it is more entertaining and educational to drive over than through, that's my opinion for what its worth.
If I get a chance to get out that way again I want to do that. I love the old roads, which is how I wound up going through this tunnel the last time, I was on my way back to North Carolina after driving Route 66.
@11:00 appx: I think it should read, a fire suppression system, not a suspension system.
I went through the 10,500 ft above sea level Russian made Salang tunnel in Afghanistan in 2009. The worst ventilation and only 2 lanes
He got away with drunk driving a pulling a stunt like that because the signs weren't posted correctly? That's crazy! I guess they weren't always so strict about DUI laws in Colorado or in most of the US at that time.
Look at the map at the name of the highway it sounds like something out of Star wars lol.
I always avoided the Eisenhower Tunnel and would just go up Loveland Pass
Wouldn't you know it , Coors beer would have there Anti - Union fingers in it!! Im from Denver and moved to Glenwood Springs on the West slope the year before it was done, big inprovement!! Glenwood canyon, also a big deal!!
This reminds me of the tunnel near my house in Cumberland Gap. Middlesboro Kentucky
Anyone know if this the tunnel mentioned in the Stand? Not at the beginning, that’s in NYC. But the guy with the fancy car.
Yes pretty sure this is the one.
And don't forget the how the state of Colorado destroyed Glenwood canyon with I70
The highest road tunnels in the world, according to Google:
Mi La Mountain Tunnel, 4,752m (15,590ft), China
Tunel Punta Olimpica, 4,732m (15,525ft), Peru
Tunel de Kahuish, 4,516m (14,816ft), Peru
Cho La Mountain Tunnel, 4,378m (14,363ft), China
It's 50 years old this year and 9news denver has a story or 2 about it's renovations being done now.
3:20 Geologically speaking, I believe you can take it for granite that it would not be very gneiss if you stepped in a bunch of schist.
Oh! 😆 Ohh!! 😂 Ohhhh!!! 🤣
@@Chuzini I'm so sorry. (By which I mean "you're welcome".) I ordinarily will not string puns, preferring to leave them for someone else to put in play. But, here it is -- a triple groaner from the pike position. Yes. That would be the _turn_ pike (well... highway anyway).
I've been through this tunnel many times. I'll be going through it twice in July (On my way into Utah then south into Arizona and back to Denver.) It's an absolutely grand tunnel and I hope they can continue to use it for many decades to come.
They were right to not allow women on site. That is not a profession for them.
I’ve been through this tunnel many times
You should do one on the Canadian Pacific Railway Mt Macdonald tunnel which is the longest railroad bore in the western hemisphere at 8 miles
music is WAY too loud in the mix. I mean WAY too loud.
Sorry but using fans during a tunnel fire won’t clear the air quickly it will only feed the fire more oxygen
Been going through this tunnel for years. Never thought it had some crazy history behind it
Another good one is in Whittier Alaska called the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel…. Great story behind that one.
Worth noting is the Loveland Ski area that extends above the tunnel. There is a ski tunnel that goes under I70, for skiers descending on the north side of the resort.
Yet hazmat have to go Loveland. Smh.
I've driven through that tounel many times it's great
The tunnel screwed this state
Rip trashcan man
Great video, thank you.
Hidden Military base
〽️
I'm surprised that there's never been an accident in there. I grew up and lived most of my life in Colorado and people drive like idiots through that tunnel, not to mention ski season traffic. Honestly though, all of I-70 is an engineering marvel through the Rockies and Utah, if not a major environmental blight. Awfully convenient though!
There has been plenty of accidents in the tunnel, just no fatalities. I’ve had to come to an abrupt stop heading eastbound as there was a large pileup in the entrance. They have these huge train horns that are incredible loud to warn you to stop in an emergency.
Slava ukraini 💙💛
The "college football team" you mention at 4:50 was from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.
Can't we rename it after a good person instead of a war criminal?
The worst road in the world to drive during peak ski season..
🏆🏆🏆👍🇺🇲🙏.
Thank you for sharing
What is this obsession we all have with tunnels? Oh. I think I know.
Didn't know about the tech keeping this thing in action.
I think this channel is big enough now to include imperial and metric when talking about distances. Thanks
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